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You need to make these.

Awesome. These are just lovely, delicious treats that get squash into your family in a new way. Inspired by my friend Jenna’s recipe over at Whole-istic Living, these little squares unexpectedly made my day.

I had leftover baked squash in the fridge and a whole bunch of nuts. I scoured my recipe books, and didn’t find anything good. Without internet access for the morning (what horror!) I was unable to look up a recipe online, yet I remembered Jenna’s so I tried to recreate it from memory. Here’s what I ended up with and loved.

They’re sweet, but not too much. They don’t pretend to be a brownie or kitchen sink bar. They are what they are: maple-syrup sweetened buttery squash sitting nicely on a rich pecan crust and topped with crispy flaked coconut. Rich and delicious as a stand alone healthy snack full of a balance of Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids, protein, and trace vitamins and minerals.

These were a hit in my house. My kids don’t usually eat squash or nuts, yet my 4 year old loved the top, and my 2 year old loved the nut crust. Together it makes a great after-school snack, and they’re also firm enough to withstand lunch-box travel.

Perhaps the best part of this is that it uses only 1 piece of kitchen equipment! Hurrah for easy cleanup!

For the crust: Put nuts in a food processor and grind until smooth. Add in the egg & salt and grind some more. With your clean fingers, spread the butter around an 9 x13 pyrex baking dish until it’s well covered. Then spread the pecan mixture out evenly over the butter.

For the filling: Put all of the squash into your food processor. I didn’t bother to clean mine after the pecans, as I figured a few stray pecan bits in the filling would be just fine. Once the squash is pureed, add in the eggs, syrup, salt, cinnamon & cloves. Mix until blended. Spread evenly over the top of the pecan crust, and sprinkle unsweetened coconut flakes over the whole thing. Bake at 3:50 for an hour. Baking this low and slow will allow the squash to firm-up without burning the crust or coconut.